


My Kingdom for a Horse

by Indiana_J



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-11
Updated: 2013-06-11
Packaged: 2017-12-14 16:30:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/838978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indiana_J/pseuds/Indiana_J
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose has a difficult decision to make - to let go or be selfish?</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Kingdom for a Horse

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in 'The Girl in the Fireplace' and attempts to fix some parts that I had issues with when I first saw this episode.

There was commotion everywhere, it seemed, except for where Rose Tyler was standing. She watched through a fog as the Doctor - who was frantically pulling at the machine in front of him - and Mickey - who wasn't doing much of anything - kept yelling at each other, their voices overlapping with the noise coming from the other side of the mirror.  
  
The noise of 18th century France, during an event that was never supposed to happen; screams of fear and the voice of one woman calming everyone down. On Rose's world, there was no mention of Clockwork men ransacking Versailles. According to all of her history books—ones she remembered vaguely, reinforced with what the Doctor had told her—Madam de Pompadour had lived until she was 43 years old and _not_ the age of the woman behind the mirror.  
  
Thirty-seven.  
  
Who knew what six years difference would do, what impact she could have that would be snuffed out? Not to mention what the whole alien/robot thing would do to the time line...  
  
Rose swallowed heavily, fingers curled into her palm. Her skin was slick with sweat and there was a slight tremble to her limbs. If they didn't do anything, an innocent woman would die before her time.  
  
But if they did, she'd lose him. The Doctor would be cut off from her, forever, if they broke the mirror. Which was looking more and more like the only way they could get through to the other side, though the Doctor kept trying to find a way to override the locks keeping him out. What must it say about her self-preservation, she thought wildly, if she only thought for a second that they couldn't fly the TARDIS without him? She'd _lose_ _him_ \- not being able to get back home seemed trival in comparison.  
  
And she'd already lost him once. The fresh, soon to be heartache was threatening to rip the scabs off the wounds that had only begun to heal over.  
  
Deep breathing didn't help the sense of helplessness to pass; in fact, the few seconds that passed made it even worse. They were running out of time.  
  
And Rose Tyler had a decision to make.  
  
It felt like ages ago when all the decisions she ever had to make was what jumper to put on, what shift she wanted at Henricks, when to meet up with Mickey at the pub. Simple things that had once been her entire world. Simple, trivial things that had not prepared her for what she had to decide now.  
  
But deep down, she knew the decision was already made. If they didn't do anything, the Doctor would be beside himself with guilt. Rose knew he would, knew he wouldn't speak of it but bottle it up inside and let it _eat_ at him. Just like everything else he kept in there. He carried so many deaths with him that she couldn't bear to add one more to the list.  
  
Even if she would lose him.  
  
And it was more than that...she couldn't do it. She couldn't just stand by and watch. Not anymore. The travels, the Doctor, it had changed her. Nineteen years spent watching the world go by, doing nothing more than occasionally tossing some pounds at a charity. That was a long time of doing nothing.  
  
A while ago, Rose might have been able to be that selfish. To look away from the stubborn, proud gaze of Reinette as she faced down her killers, just to keep the Doctor with her.  But the Doctor had turned her into someone better than that.  
  
Turning on her heel, she bolted down one of the corridors without a word and a small part of her thrilled at the Doctor's shocked, worried shout of “Rose!”. It was not selfish, she thought as she blinked the tears back, rounding the corner so fast that she stumbled and bounced off the wall, to feel. It was selfish to let it control her. After all, if this worked...if this worked, all she'd have left would be memories and feelings.  
  
No, not selfish at all considering.  
  
Despite all the running she and the Doctor ended up doing nearly every day, Rose was huffing slightly when she spotted her target tucked away at the end of a long corridor. Part of it was the running but the other from the surge of emotions in her.  
  
And, even with everything going on, a small smile tugged at her lips. He always did say—along with her mum and Mickey—that sometimes she acted without thinking first.  It contributed to her being Jeoporady friendly.  
  
It was a good thing in this case or else she feared she'd be frozen to the spot.  
  
Reaching out, Rose made soothing noises. “Hey there,” she murmured, watching Arthur's ears flick towards her. Poor thing, she thought when she realized he was staring out of a window into the stables. He wanted to go home just as much as they needed to save Reinette. “Come on, now...no biting, yeah? I just need...I need your help.”  
  
London born, London bred. Never been this close to a horse outside of a childrens' zoo in her life. And, oddly enough, despite everything she had seen and done, Arthur scared her to death. It was a large animal with teeth and hooves, no matter that it had been following the Doctor around like a puppy.  
  
A puppy that out weighed Mickey's old car...  
  
Breathing a sigh of relief when the horse did nothing more than attempt to eat her hair, Rose got a good grip on the reigns. She gave it a look as they started walking back where she'd come from.  
  
“I am _not_ riding you so stop looking at me like that...”  
  
~~  
  
“Doctor? Doctor!” Rose's head popped out of the corridor and she frowned when she saw only him.  Mickey was nowhere to be found.  
  
“Rose!” He turned to her, frown lines deepening on his face. “Of all the times to run off...are you alright?”  
  
Alright?  Not even close.  
  
“Where's Mickey?” she asked, skirting around the question. A shriek nearly escaped when she felt Arthur start to investigate her back pocket, apparently in the vague hope she'd be carrying a treat. All that time getting him down the corridors to this room and he picked that moment to get fresh.  
  
“Out looking for you,” was the reply and then she winced when he smacked the controls in frustration.  
  
“Any luck?” she asked, hoping that despite the display she just seen, that he had come up with a brilliant scheme so she wouldn't have to do this. Wouldn't have to let him do this.  
  
“No,” the Doctor said, running his hands frantically through his hair. “They've completely shut this down on this end. It won't open back up until they're ready to come back.”  
  
Rose swallowed a surge of tears because she knew why they'd be ready.  They'd only be ready to come back with a compatible brain for their ship, the last piece of a frightening puzzle.  
  
“I've...I've got an idea,” she blurted out, words on top of words because if she went any slower they'd get stuck in the back of her throat. “We don't have a truck, yeah? But we've got something that's just as good. I think.”  
  
Arthur neighed in agreement, tossing his head and nearly pulling the reigns out of her hands.  
  
For a second her heart skipped a beat as the Doctor spun around on his heel, staring at her and then the horse. Brown eyes that once were blue kept flicking back and forth before he let out a whoop of joy. Before she could blink, he cleared the console—so excited that he went over instead of around—and was standing in front of her.  
  
“Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!” he exclaimed, grabbing her in a crushing hug before letting go to pat the horse. “I didn't even think...aha! Too many things going on, so many variables and I forgot the horse! Note to self, never forget the horse.” The Doctor grinned at her. “I knew keeping him was a good idea, I told you so. And I knew I made the right choice when I picked you...when...”  
  
His words slowed down as he finally _looked_ at her and he realized that she knew. Gently, he took the reigns from her hands and secured Arthur before turning back to her.  
  
“Oh Rose,” he sighed, reaching out one hand to her.  
  
Automatically, Rose held out her hand and watched as their fingers intertwined with each others. It was grounding, it was familiar and oh God, so heart breaking. She kept her eyes on their hands even when he tugged her closer, so close she could almost hear his heartbeats. When his free hand touched her cheek, she started to look up again, especially when the hand slid along her flushed skin to the back of her neck.  
  
For a brief, dizzying second she thought he might kiss her but instead he brought them together so that their foreheads touched. They stood like that for a few seconds, just looking— _remember this_ something whispered in the back of her mind, in a timber that was not quite hers—at each other. The hand on the back of her neck squeezed gently, the thumb soothing the taught muscles.  
  
“My brilliant Rose,” the Doctor said with a smile. He looked proud. Proud and shattered at the same time.  
  
She scoffed, fighting for emotional balance. “Nah,” Rose said with only the hint of tears in her voice. “The Krillitane oil wore off ages ago, remember?”  
  
He chuckled. “Never needed it,” he replied, warmly.  
  
 _Never needed it at all._  
  
Frowning, Rose poked at the random not-her-thought in her mind and then blinked when the Doctor winced. “That you in my head?”  
  
“Sort of, yeah...”  
  
They laughed for a second before he frowned. “Oh no you don't,” he murmured, withdrawing mentally, his forehead rubbing against hers as he concentrated. “Grey hairs, I'll end up grey and not ginger at this rate.”  
  
“I was just followin' your voice,” Rose whispered, head starting to ache a bit.  
  
“There are things that I do not want you to see...just yet.”  
  
“Yet? That means there'll be a later, Doctor.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Don't you dare say goodbye but also, no promises either, okay? Can't handle either of them.”  
  
“No promises...I promise.” Straightening slightly, he pressed his lips to her forehead. The kiss went on longer than it should have, as though he didn't want to let go of her. Finally, with a squeeze to her hand, he pulled back.  
  
“Go on, then,” Rose said, reaching out to smooth down his jacket and got the kink out of his tie. “Go save your damsel in distress.”  
  
It hurt that she couldn't be that for him.  
  
Though she knew she hadn't said it out loud, the Doctor responded almost harshly, “You're more than that, Rose. Far, far more than that.”  
  
She gave him a watery smile as he swung up onto Arthur, helping him lead the horse a little down the hall so he'd have enough space to do what needed to be done. Despite the hurt, she couldn't help laughing when he swore as he had to duck to avoid getting his head bashed.  
  
“Rose...”  
  
“Go,” she whispered, raising her hand to give Arthur a smack on the rump, sending both the horse and the Doctor towards the mirror.  
  
There was only time for a quick glance over his shoulder, and the briefest warmest touch in her mind, before Arthur—who moved with such grace that even Rose was fascinated—bunched his muscles up and jumped into the mirror. The shattering of glass was so loud that even though she'd been watching, she flinched.  
  
There was a rain of silver, one last look at the richness of Versailles and of her Doctor before it shimmered for a second like a pool of water that someone had touched...  
  
And then, nothing but space ship. And the sick thing about it, she thought, was that it belonged there, not the mirror...  
  
Rose's breath came out in gasps as she slide down the wall behind her. She didn't move until Mickey's voice floated up to her, demanding to know what had happened. Paying him no mind, she shut her eyes.  
  
“What do we do, Rose?”  
  
He had always been rather persistent.  
  
“We wait,” Rose said, eyes still closed. “We wait for him.”  
  
~~  
  
 _Five hours, Twenty Five Minutes Later_  
  
The wall felt cold under Rose's feverish skin and for a second, she allowed herself to rest. The first hour, she and Mickey had attempted to work something out with the controls. It had been futile but better than just sitting around, staring at each other in the growing silence.  
  
When they needed something else to occupy their minds, they'd entered the TARDIS. Mickey had suggested trying to use it to find the Doctor but Rose had been unsettled, nearly tackling her friend when he'd touched the panel that she knew would rise up to show them the inside of the time machine. A memory, blurry and just out of her reach, warned her that attempting something like that would have a price that neither of them could pay.  
  
But they busied themselves in the familiar setting for the next few hours, trying to figure out the controls. The problem was that the Doctor controlled the TARDIS. It was bonded with him, not them. And sometimes a button was just a button without the knowledge of 900 years to guide it.  
  
Rose swore every once in a while she felt something brush against her mind, something alien but familiar, as though something was searching for remains of the Doctor. It was soothing and disturbing at the same time, but she let it be, let it do as it pleased because it meant she still had a connection to him, through his machine. And she let herself think that perhaps the TARDIS was searching for comfort in its own way.  
  
And then they were back on the ship, learning the ins and outs as best they could. Trying to see if there was something they had overlooked.  
  
In the end, they had.  
  
Rose's eyes snapped open, startling Mickey who'd come over to see if she was okay. He started to speak but she clapped a hand over his mouth, shushing him. They both waited, a second, the only sound the quiet noise of a dead ship and their breathing.  
  
Right as she thought it was a trick of her imagination, desperate to ease the pain that had started to build and build over the last few hours, they both heard it.  
  
“ _Rose!_ ”  
  
Turning around so fast she nearly ended up on her bum, she stared at the figure scrambling out of the room with the fire place. The still _burning fireplace_.  
  
Crying out his name, Rose flung herself into his arms, laughing through her tears when they smacked foreheads together. “Ow, stars,” she gasped as he spun her around.  
  
“Well, of course,” he said, with a hint of smugness. “You're looking at me.”  
  
And right before she could smack him a good one, he planted a kiss on her forehead, in full view of Mickey.  
  
 _It turns out I'm a very lucky man after all._  
  
There was a hint of surprise in his eyes when Rose pushed her thoughts towards him, unwilling to let him slip away like he did five hours ago, following closely through that door he opened. _We both are..._  
  
And the Doctor could not resist, he really couldn't. _What? Men?_  
  
Not waiting for her answer, he grinned and asked, “How long did you wait?”


End file.
